Free Republic

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday a plan to build a military base camp in Eagle Pass that will house National Guard troops tasked with responding to what he refers to as “President Joe Biden’s border crisis.” The base camp will be built on 80 acres of land in Eagle Pass and accommodate up to 1,800 Texas National Guard members, with room for an additional 500, to bolster the state’s border security capabilities. “This will increase the ability for a larger number of Texas Military Department soldiers in Eagle Pass to operate more effectively and efficiently,” Mr. Abbott said at...

News of a recent alleged assassination attempt on Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin, raises the question: what kind of Russia might emerge after him? It is tempting to believe that, if Putin were killed, or otherwise removed from power, for example in a palace coup, Russia would shake off its dictatorial shackles, normalize its relations with the West, and advance down the democratic road. Such thinking is mistaken. History suggests there are slim prospects of Russia doing so. The surest guarantee that Russia will not reform along democratic lines is the power of its security and intelligence services. At key junctures...

Accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein claimed that he was a co-founder of the Clinton Global Initiative, a subsidiary of the scandal-plagued Clinton Foundation. Bill Clinton was a frequent Epstein travel companion. Malia Zimmerman reported in 2016: Attorneys for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein touted his close friendship with Bill Clinton and even claimed the billionaire helped start Clinton’s controversial family foundation in a 2007 letter aimed at boosting his image during plea negotiations “Mr. Epstein was part of the original group that conceived the Clinton Global Initiative, which is described as a project ‘bringing together a community of global...

Jeffrey Epstein was reportedly arrested on Saturday and will appear in New York court on Monday to be charged with sex trafficking, according to multiple law enforcement sources. Billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for allegedly sex trafficking dozens of minors in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005, and will appear in court in New York on Monday, according to three law enforcement sources. The arrest, by the FBI-NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force, comes about 12 years after the 66-year-old financier essentially got a slap on the wrist for allegedly molesting dozens of underage girls in Florida.

The Clintons are back, and the Daily Mail has a spread about how they are partying away with the jet-setters of the New England coastal elites – the big-money ones, of course. Love was in the air over the weekend at the most unlikely of places, as the son of billionaire hedge fund manager Marc Lasry was married in a ceremony that was held on the grounds of Harvey Weinstein's Connecticut estate. Zach Lasry, 28, wed Arianna Lyons, 29, in a circus-themed ceremony complete with acrobats, taxidermist animals [sic] and one terrifying clown who hung lanterns off his eyelids. Even...

In President Trump’s Executive Order signed on December 21, 2017, his list of individuals include many connected to the Clintons. But the major individual, who stands out is Dan Gertler, international businessman and billionaire, main business partner Glencore, whose founder Marc Rich was on the FBI’s most wanted list until pardoned in 2001 by Bill Clinton. Dan Gertler, who is alleged to have amassed a personal fortune of billions of dollars through corrupt deals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is accused of using his personal relationship with Congolese President Joseph Kabila to siphon off cash from the sale of...

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said his country is willing to offer former FBI Director James Comey political asylum if he is prosecuted in the U.S. for leaking his memos on his private conversations with President Trump. According to a translation by RT, a Russian-controlled television network, Putin said Comey's leaks put him "in a vulnerable position." He compared the former FBI director to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who currently has asylum in Russia. Comey, like Snowden, acted as an "activist," Putin said.

A close friend of President Trump said on Monday that the President is considering firing Robert Mueller, the special counsel who is leading the federal investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Chris Ruddy, CEO of Newsmax Media and a longtime Trump friend, told PBS's Judy Woodruff that Trump is weighing whether to fire Mueller. "I think he's considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. I think he's weighing that option," Ruddy said on PBS NewsHour.

'FOBs': How Hillary's State Dept. Gave Special Attention to 'Friends of Bill' After Haiti Quake By Matthew Mosk Brian Ross Brian Epstein Cho Park Oct 11, 2016 In a series of candid email exchanges with top Clinton Foundation officials during the hours after the massive 2010 Haiti earthquake, a senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly gave special attention to those identified by the abbreviations “FOB” (friends of Bill Clinton) or “WJC VIPs” (William Jefferson Clinton VIPs). “Need you to flag when people are friends of WJC,” wrote Caitlin Klevorick, then a senior State Department official who was...

BOYCE — Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that he's confident a federal investigation into donations made to his 2013 campaign will find no wrongdoing. "There [are] no wrongdoing allegations that have been made," McAuliffe said to reporters Tuesday after a bill-signing ceremony in Clarke County. "If you read the story yesterday, they have some questions about a donor. My legal team fully vetted this individual. He's been a green card holder since 2007. So we're very confident." CNN first reported Monday that McAuliffe is the focus of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice. The precise...

Former president Bill Clinton had a private telephone conversation in late spring with Donald Trump at the same time that the billionaire investor and reality-television star was nearing a decision to run for the White House, according to associates of both men. Four Trump allies and one Clinton associate familiar with the exchange said that Clinton encouraged Trump's efforts to play a larger role in the Republican Party and offered his own views of the political landscape. Clinton's personal office in New York confirmed that the call occurred in late May, but an aide to Clinton said the 2016 race...

Roger Bowley, a physics professor at the University of Nottingham, explains why holding a key fob next to your brain can help extend its signal. He also demonstrates the same effect using a bottle of water, which comes in handy when trying to unlock a car.

OK, I understand that one always need to tread carefully when posting a "vanity" at Free Republic, even in the General/Chat forum, especially as a "newbie." Like many, I've lurked on and off for about 5 or 6 years before getting "motivated" enough to actually join a few months ago (a bit more on that below). So, I am treading carefully. I don't have an article to post as reference or as a subject since this thread is of a very personal nature. However, at this point in time, I can't think of a better forum in which to start...

The mainstream media was dealt a devastating blow yesterday with the news that Times Square car bomber, Faisal Shahzad was not, as most of the fossilizing media had feverishly hoped, linked to the Tea Party movement. NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg hypothesized the bomber was expressing opposition to ObamaCare. Had he been right, capturing the terrorist would have been a daunting task indeed as two thirds of population hates ObamaCare. State controlled media fixates on the crudeness of the bomb— “experts” obsess over the bomber’s lack of “trade craft.” Shahzad obviously was not an adequately trained member of al Qaeda Local...

With breaking news out of Palestine today that a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas has been literally caught with his pants down, rape tapes seem to be popping up all over the pious Muslim world. And some are horrifically worse than others. Last month on the FOX Business Network, Colonel Oliver North revealed a startling piece of information. Conservative mullahs and elements within the Haqqani terror network – known as the backbone of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the Af/Pak theater – are working to take the Haqqanis down from the inside. Their key weapon is a disturbing...

KHOST PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 3, 2009 – Indiana National Guard soldiers from the 38th Infantry Division’s Task Force Cyclone ensure Forward Operating Base Salerno is maintained properly. Army Spc. David Lillian, right, supervises an Afghan worker during weed removal at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Afghanistan’s Khost province, Nov. 30, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. William E. Henry  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Located in eastern Afghanistan, Salerno is near the Pakistan border and is home to four different elements of the Indiana National Guard. The 1-19th Indiana Agribusiness Development Team; B Company, 2nd Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment;...

I submitted a google search engine request for: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=podesta+acorn+2004 The original link at the ACORN website has been removed - I found it's sitting in the Google cache, however. Screenshot:

Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, today announced the organization's endorsement of Senator John S. McCain III for the office of President. "The FOP carefully considered the records and the responses of both candidates and, in our evaluation, Senator McCain will provide greater leadership for our country and for our nation's law enforcement officers," Canterbury said. "We will be proud to stand behind him this November, and to stand with him for the next four years." ... cont.

Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire friend of Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton, has admitted soliciting prostitution from underage girls in South Florida. The 55-year-old financier has been sentenced to 18 months in jail followed by a year of house arrest. He will also be designated a sex offender. Epstein was arrested two years ago after he allegedly paid several girls under the age of 18 between $200 (£100) and $300 (£150) each in return for naked massages at his Palm Beach home that sometimes led to sex. He also faces multi-million pound lawsuits in state and federal courts filed by several...

glaringly missing from the summary was mention of $15 million in fees paid by Burkle's Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund since 2002